JG-Filinvest group offers to finish Clark airport by 2020

THE consortium of JG Summit and Filinvest said on Wednesday it can finish a brand-new world class Clark International Airport by 2020 if the government accepts its unsolicited proposal.

Filinvest disclosed they submitted an unsolicited proposal in July last year after the Department of Transportation [DoTr] said the government was open to unsolicited proposals for infrastructure projects.

“With early completion in mind, our unsolicited proposal is based on the Aeroport de Paris Masterplan prepared for Clark International Airport [CIA] last 2015, in order to fast-track its development. The new CIA will serve the residents of central and northern Luzon and at the same time help ease congestion at NAIA [Ninoy Aquino International Airport],” Filinvest said in a statement.

According to the group, its 50-year concession will start with an initial capacity for eight million passengers compared to the existing traffic of one million, as the master plan allows the proposed Clark airport to expand its terminals and runways.

The group submitted its proposal with the objective of fully complying with the requirements of the Build-Operate-Transfer law. Under the BOT Law, only complete proposals will be given due course and entertained.

Meanwhile, Manila International Airport Authority [MIAA] general manager Ed Monreal said they look forward to the development of Clark International Airport (CRK) as it would help in the decongestion of NAIA, which MIAA operates.

“I welcome these developments. Definitely it would be an added value for us. Because the overflow at NAIA, we can put it there. We will co-exist,” Monreal told The Manila Times.

CIAC receives first tranche of project fund

Meanwhile, CRK’s state-run operator Clark International Airport Corporation (CIAC) said it has received the first tranche of a project fund from the DoTr on Tuesday to kick-start the implementation of the airport’s new terminal building project.

CIAC president and chief executive officer Alexander Cauguiran confirmed the transfer of the first tranche amounting to P6.6 million from the P2.89-billion project fund from DoTr to hire four consultants through negotiated procurement. The funds will be used for the procurement of consulting services for the detailed engineering design and construction management services for the new terminal building

“Thankfully, this huge development will definitely move us forward in realizing CIAC’s plans to accommodate the growing number of passengers at Clark airport,” Cauguiran said in a statement.

Cauguiran said that the process of bidding and awarding of contract may be completed by the third quarter of this year.

He said the new Clark airport terminal is part of the current administration’s “Build, Build, Build” infrastructure development thrust and is set to be completed before the end of President Rodrigo Duterte’s term in 2022.